1.Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information search system for searching for information/content that is distributed over a network.
2.Description of Related Art
The development of the Internet has made it possible for many people to enjoy collecting information in a field of their interest via this global network. In the Internet environment, however, web servers and the like are separately provided, and, consequently, often information in a field is widely distributed and cannot be efficiently obtained. In order to collect sufficient information, some people who share the same interest form a Closed Interest Group (CIG) in which quite highly specialized information is exchanged.
However, because the CIG uses a Bulletin Board System (BBS), information is accumulated through the process of exchanging a message and a replies. Although fragmentary information can be collected, the CIG system is not suitable for intensively obtaining a great deal of information.
With an information search or collection system based on a conventional BBS, it is difficult for a seeker to efficiently collect information about a particular object of interest. In such a system, the only way to find out whether another person in the CIG shares your interest is to read messages from the person and form an opinion based on that information. For example, if there exists a CIG for the Japanese chess-like game of shogi, its members may be fond of different forms of tactical deployment of the shogi pieces. For example, there is no way for a member who is fond of one style of play, such as that known as “shiken-bisha” to find other members who also like “shiken-bisha.” Although conventional BBS systems allow users to find others who share the same general interests, such as “shogi”, in those systems it is relatively difficult to find among participants another user sharing an interest in a rather minor specialized field. Therefore, many users are dissatisfied with such systems.